The Worst Kind Of Psycho
by slightlyupsetcicada
Summary: A descendent of a Japanese warrior goes to Rook Island to defend her family's honour and find a present left by her grandfather, but instead what she finds is a dangerous drug lord, a gruesome war, and a new hero. But the most important she'll find out is that the worst kind of psychopath, is the one who falls for her. Warnings inside.
1. Chapter 1: Reverse Ostrich

**A/N: Hi guys, this is my first story on this site and I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Warning for course language and some sexual references and sexual content and very brief mentions of sexual assault.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Far Cry or any of its characters.**

 **Chapter 1: Reverse ostrich**

Atsuko's dark brown eyes flickered open to see at first, nothing, but a pair of dark green trousers crouching down near her, cursing under her breath she looked up to see that they belonged to a Hispanic man who was grinning sadistically at her. She opened her mouth to speak but it was too dry, the heat burning down on her was almost unbearable. The man flicked some sand into her open mouth and laughed childishly as if it was a hilarious prank. Atsuko was just plain confused until it hit her, she was buried underneath in sand. She'd been so dazed and had so many other problems that she hadn't even felt the soft sand encasing her body tightly like a strait jacket, restricting any small movement apart from her neck and head which were just poking out the ground.

"You're finally awake Hermana. Now what are you doing on this island?" He gave her a second to answer but her head was too fuzzy, and her mouth to dry to respond. "HM? I ASKED YOU A FUCKING QUESTION!" He stood up kicking sand into her face angrily, before crouching back down and tugging hard on her long black hair. Atsuko almost thought it was going to rip right out as a numb achy pain attacked her head.

"My… my grandfather" She panted, coughing out some of the sand trapped in her throat. "He fought here in the war against Japan, my momma said that he had a present, something important but he wouldn't say what in the letter, so I'm here to find it." She explained panicked. The man listened with casual disinterest, more interested in playing in the sand as he piled some up near her head. "Are you going to kill me?" She asked fearfully when the man gave no response, terrified about talking to this seemingly sociopathic, unstable man, but unable to contain curiosity, she had many questions and she wanted at least some answering. She tried to keep the fear out of her voice but the terror was overwhelming, it was impossible to keep it all inside and when she talked it all spilled out revealing her fear.

"Shh shh Hermana, don't you worry about a thing." The hand that was still tightly gripping her hair relaxed and instead started stroking it reassuringly, something that unsettled Atsuko deep down to the core, from him affection somehow seemed much more dangerous than violence.

"We're just gonna find some nice people to take you in, okay Chica?" He replied with a devious smile that implied these people were going to be anything but 'nice'.

"And at which point do I get taken out of this damn sand?" She asked sarcastically, spitting out the remaining sand in her mouth. Immediately she regretted it and stared nervously for his reaction. At first he just seemed surprised, before bursting into laughter

"What's wrong?" Atsuko could sense him getting angrier. "Is this place not fucking good enough for you? Huh? HUH? This is my fucking island and you're the stupid fuck intruding on it! So if I were you I'd shut the fuck up and be glad you're not dead already Amigo."

"Hey Vaas! Get over here, there's an ambush by the Rakyat." A heavy accent called from up above a rocky hill. The man in question was a thick set muscly man wearing a similar outfit to the man she assumed must be Vaas.

"The Rakyat?" She muttered worried. "My granddad! They killed him." She stared deeply into Vaas' eyes who had looked down at her curiously when she began talking again. "Please, you have to let me fight with you. They killed my granddad! My family!" Surprisingly this was the first time tears filled her eyes, she bent her head ashamed as they fell to the sand and she cursed under her breath that her hands were buried deep in sand so she couldn't wipe them away. She never felt more vulnerable than the rare moments when she allowed tears to show. "Please, you want me to be useful to you? This is the best way I can help you."

Vaas looked conflicted, as if he wasn't sure whether she could be used. Eventually he reasoned that even if she did turn out to be a waste of space she'd be slaughtered by the Rakyat anyway. Vaas grabbed a nearby shovel and stabbed it deep into the sand inches away from her face causing Atsuko to flinch away violently. After a painfully long time enough sand was shifted that Atsuko was free. However moving was almost as hard as it had been when she was still in the sand, her muscles ached from being constricted and the intense burning heat made her dizzy and unable to stand. Worst of all sweat covered her entire body, meaning a thin film of sand formed a weird residue over her that was difficult to scrape off.

She pulled on Vaas' hand to pull herself up, she was so frail and shaky that she needed to grip Vaas' hand tightly "I swear to god I will kill them all." She growled. He just grinned at her pleasantly surprised.

"Well aren't you a treat?"

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed it and reviews would be appreciated! Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to the Jungle

**Disclaimer: I don't own Far Cry or its characters**

 **Chapter 2: Welcome to the Jungle**

By the time Atsuko was steady enough to stand the battle was already over, leaving behind a sea of blue and red: blue, the uniforms of the dead Rakyat warriors and red, the blood. Atsuko felt a mixture of sickness and pride. These men lying on the floor were the descendants of her grandfather's murderer. Vaas however was plain angry. Atsuko rolled her eyes as he yelled and swore repeatedly behind her, annoyed for missing the fight.

The swearing continued as they were all bustled into a small truck, Atsuko directly opposite Vaas with some unknown pirates filling the gaps; it was one of the most uncomfortable moments of Atsuko's life, wedged for hours between sweaty angry looking men lightly splashed in blood, as they quickly sped over large cobbles causing the truck to incessantly jolt. In spite of this as they neared they're destination Atsuko felt excited. Amanaki outpost: where her grandfather mentioned in all those dusty old letters she would so happily sit and read as a small child, careful to avoid ruining the delicate worn paper. It looked as beautiful as her grandfather had occasionally described.

"Oi Hermana, what the fuck are you smiling at?" Vaas' shouts broke her out of her happy thoughts and she jumped slightly.

"Of course I'm smiling. I'm closer than ever…" She said staring past him her voice trailing off quietly, she didn't feel like explaining all about her life to a stranger. Especially a stranger with a gun and most likely some personality disorder like Vaas. She looked around and saw most of them men looking at with a sickening lecherous look, she got the impression they didn't work with females much.

The truck suddenly stopped making them all lurch forward, and they piled out of the truck into a dusty outpost with a rundown building and some shelters with canvas covering scattered around it. She was honestly pretty surprised at how low security it was. All the men set about reloading ammo and treating their wounds, it made her grimace how dirty the bandages they used were but decided it wasn't her place to lecture them. She cautiously walked over to Vaas who was crouched down facing away from her. "So what do we do here?" she murmurs nervously, he seemed on edge, muttering and spitting on the dirt, The last thing she wanted was to be shot dead when she was maybe metres away from his grandfather's great secret.

It took him a while to reply, he started chuckling amused at first, then angry.

"You think you're one of us now huh? You're lucky you don't have a fucking bullet in your brain now!" he shouted, shoving a handgun aggressively into her head for emphasis. She stood shakily but tried not to flinch, she was done with looking weak in front of him. He wrapped his finger around the trigger, slowly pulling it. Atsuko just stared back, a mix of fear and confusion evident on her face, with beads of sweat slowly dripping down her face.

"Bang!" he shouted, bursting into laughter. Atsuko sighed in relief, it seemed logical that he wouldn't really kill her, yet anyway, but when his insane feral eyes bored into hers all sense of logic was gone and instead she felt pure dread.

"You're good Hermana, others cry like a little pussy, but you… You're different." He smiled with approval.

Apparently her powers of acting were better than she thought. "You want to help? Go have fun, if you don't make it back I'll know you're the waste of space I think you are. Now fuck off." He smirked heading off to the outpost main building.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews would be appreciated!**


	3. Amanaki village

Atsuko's feet burned as she jumped onto the hard ground, a giant beam plastered on her face. Vaas probably hadn't meant this when he said 'have fun' by climbing in the dense thick jungle, but she decided that it would help her learn the jungle and be helpful. Probably. Despite how much she enjoyed herself it was an arduous task navigating through the thick trees. Her home was in Tokyo and she couldn't imagine a place more juxtaposed to Rook Island. It made her feel sentimental thinking about her home. She left behind a little brother, and many others on a quest she may never come back from. Everyone knew it was dangerous, but no one could know she would be taken in by a psychotic warlord who cared nothing about her safety. The image of her young brother, tugging on her sleeves with tears falling down his small chubby face attacked her thoughts and refused to leave no matter how much she willed it. She became so lost in her memories she barely heard the talking from just outside the boundary of the jungle. She nervously tensed up and crouched into a small ball behind a tree, listening in. But the voices were hushed, annoyingly so, the words barely a whisper as they reached her ears.

She grabbed an above branch and pushed her foot hard into the tree bark so she could launch herself onto a closer branch, as she leapt through the air she misjudged the height and grabbed the branch with a pathetically light grip. Instantly the strain on her muscles was too much and she landed straight on the ground, crying in shock.

"What was that?" She heard one of the men shout in surprise, she looked over and saw they seemed worried, poised with guns. If not for her clothes she could have played the sweet innocent girl act. But she had borrowed one of the red skull t-shirts that fell loosely down past her waist. It was unlikely they would believe her.

"Who's there?" The man had an air of bravery and fearlessness, but it felt contrived. Nevertheless she still had to get out of the situation she found herself in. She cautiously pushed past thick leaves to be face to face with the armed men. They were covered in tattoos, vaguely familiar to Atsuko from her grandfather's letters. Tatau, used to show off the bravery and achievements of Rakyat warriors, it almost made her laugh that these 'mighty warriors' were afraid when ultimately, they were facing an unarmed, barely adult girl, admittedly unknowingly.

"Kia ora." She greeted them calmly, immediately exhausting all the Maori she knew. "I'm lost…" She began to explain not knowing what to say next.

"Do not worry child, Dennis will take you in. Come with us." One of the men says, slinging his gun over his back, and offering a friendly hand to Atsuko. She had to admit it was kind of them, however an offer she couldn't accept. Instead she gave him a sheepish smile  
"I'll be alright. I don't need any help." She murmured nervously. Maybe she could put her refusal down to not wanting to be a bother? The men gave each other a suspicious look, short and almost imperceptible.

"Why do you have that t-shirt on?" One asked, the one still holding a gun. Atsuko sighed deeply. This would take some class A lying.

"I escaped from the slave camp…" She muttered, remembering some of the pirates talking about being in the slavery business. "My top was completely ruined so I quickly took one with me." She babbled. She thought maybe now they wouldn't kill her, but it was unlikely they would let her go with a 'good luck.' Damn chivalry, she thought as she forced fear onto her expression, prepared to run away at any moment; she felt like a trapped animal. "Please I've got to go." She pleaded with the men attempting to slink past.  
"We can't let you go by yourself, the jungle will eat you up, or you'll be recaptured. Please let us help you."

How do you argue with that?

Atsuko reluctantly followed them to Amanaki village, apparently the last remaining territory of the Rakyat. Despite her hatred of the people she liked the prospect of being able to ask the burning questions without the threat of death constantly hanging over her. She grins as the men walk off, left alone in enemy territory, it really was a dream situation; but only if Vaas doesn't suspect she's betraying him. It became clear she'd somehow need to send him a message to show she's not run away. But what, she didn't know.

In the mean time she hung around awkwardly, carefully taking in all the important details about the camp, there were several buildings, one being a weapons store and a base for people to sleep in.

"Hello, are you okay?" she turned around to see a girl looking at her, about the same age as her, but with dark skin and a dark black plait that went down to her stomach.

"Yeah, thanks, I escaped from the pirate's camp, I'm a little shaky." She admitted quietly, the last bit at least was true. The shock of the day had suddenly make her legs become weak and buckle under her weight. The Rakyat girl leant forward and gently grabbed her to help keep her upright.

"Oh!" She exclaimed surprised. "Jeez we need you to get you a place to lie down." Her voice was filled with concern as she took most of Atsuko's weight. Atsuko's eyelids flicked open and closed lazily as she sunk into the arms of the mysterious girl, she became faintly aware that she must have been a bother to the girl, but she didn't have the strength to stand up straight, or even to open her eyes.

Atsuko awoke, trapped under layers of soft blankets. She sat bolt upright, how long had she been here? Outside the sun was setting, the sky filled with a wash of pinks and oranges, the light softly filtered in warming her skin pleasantly. The room was small and basic, it looked like a room in a shack; from what she could gather. And outside it a quiet humming could be heard. She went to the door and listened for a few minutes, memories came flooding back of the girl, this must be her house, she decided. It was a shame she couldn't say thank you, but she knew she had to go. The window easily opened enough for her to climb through and she soon found herself in a small plot of farm land, a kid stared at her with her mouth wide open

"TUAHINE!" The kid shouted confused, Atsuko put her finger against her lips to shush him.  
"It's okay… I'm a friend." The kid stared at her more confused than he did before and Atsuko cursed under her breath as she realised he probably didn't speak English. So instead she ran.

"Hey, where you going?" A voice yelled behind her, concerned as before. Atsuko slowed, deciding she at least owed her an explanation. Not a true one. But one that she would believe at least.

"I need to go." Atsuko replied apologetically. "I have something I need to do. Thank you." She began running again, so fast her muscles burned and until she physically couldn't anymore, leaping past the wild thicket of the jungle, obviously she had no idea where she was going, but she didn't feel safe stopping. Especially when she heard the low threatening growl of an unknown animal surrounding her. She stopped dead in her tracks, a nauseating feeling rose in her stomach and her head swarmed noisily with collections of survival tricks she learnt as a kid, but none of them made sense with her head so fuzzy, the mixture of heat, running and fear caused her to be sick on the ground. She groaned at herself in disgust. The noise seemed to move through the bushes around her; taunting her, she could barely stand as she weakened once again. 'This seems to be an annoyingly common personality trait' she murmured to herself grimly, gripping tightly to a tree trunk for support. The noise crept slowly closer towards her. But still the source was nowhere to be seen. How was it doing this? After being teased and tortured by the fierce growls of her unknown assailant, a ripple of loud gunfire blasted through the woods. Atsuko ducked down into the thicket fearfully and heard the weak whine and thud. Looked like her torment was over. She scrambled through the woods towards the source of the noise to get a better look. What she saw made her laugh, sighing in relief. Vaas was standing there, his usual cocky grin plastered on his face.

"Looks like you just saved my life." She smirked, appearing out in the open in front of him. "Who would've thought?"

He walked closer towards her

"I'm impressed. I had a bet we'd find your disembowelled corpse a few metres away from the camp." He smirked

"Thanks to you." She pointed out happily. "Buuut this is a big place, so I wonder how you managed to find me just when I needed it. Could it be you sent someone to watch over me, so I didn't get hurt?" She joked mockingly.

He stared at her blankly for a few seconds. "Get in the truck." He grumbled annoyed.


	4. New alliances

In the next few hours, pretty much everyone had dispersed and were relaxing, doing not very much in particular except drinking for the most part, Atsuko meanwhile was finally glad to just have food. Finally no more passing out from weakness! She grinned triumphantly as she quickly shovelled down her meal of slightly burnt macaroni cheese. The room she was in was a small cramped kitchen towards one end of the camp, connected to the main room. Through the door she could hear Vaas shouting, and some of the other men cheering and sniggering, curiosity drove her to, reluctantly, leave her food and check it out. She put her ear against the door to listen in closely, she froze from shock with what she heard, there was a girl pleading for someone to stop, and it didn't take her long to work out what was happening. She felt sick and disgusted, and suddenly wished she hadn't just eaten a large dinner. She knew unless she stopped them now that she would never forgive herself, she would die carrying the burden of letting someone by abused in such a horrific way when she could've stopped it, even though she knew that nothing good would come of it for her. She grabbed a kitchen knife and gripped it tightly in her hand, summoning all her courage she burst through the door angrily, pushing past the men in her way to get to Vaas. As she suspected he was on top of an unknown girl, a few of the other men holding her down while she struggled against him, crying softly.

"Get off her!" Atsuko yelled, storming straight up to him with a look of fiery indignation. "Now!"

Vaas stepped back looking amused, his casual response made her even angrier as she grabbed him hard by the throat, she heard a murmur of noise behind her from the other men but she could barely hear them, all could think about was how angry she was at him, and at herself for getting in this situation.

"Let her go." She growled at him aggressively, and he did, grabbing the girl roughly by her elbow so she was forced to stand, the girl looked straight at Atsuko with a look of despair as she sorted out her clothes and followed her outside, the sky had turned dark with an inky midnight glow and a vast expanse of stars hanging ominously above. They sat on the hard floor, the cold wind whipping around them comfortingly and breaking the silence that would otherwise have consumed them as they sat not speaking, both too deep in thought to consider speaking.

Atsuko didn't know what to do next; there was no way she could carry on with Vaas' pirates after what she'd seen. No way at all. So now she was trapped in a country with no friends, except the Rakyat girl, but would she greet her back with open arms after she ran off so rudely?

"Whakawhetai" The girl quietly muttered after what felt like hours. Atsuko just nodded thoughtfully, mostly because she didn't actually know what that meant. She made a mental note to actually learn the language they spoke the next time she visited a new country.

"I don't speak Maori" She finally admitted, after a feeling of awkwardness started to spread from the silence.

"I speak some English. You know Amanaki village? Could you take me there?" She pleaded in a thick accent, looking at her desperately. Atsuko nodded excitedly, gesturing for the girl to stay there as she went back inside.

"I'm borrowing one of the trucks to take the girl home." She explained coldly, slamming the door before anyone had the chance to respond, or stop her.

The keys to the trucks were mercifully easy to find, a testament to the laziness of the pirates. Meaning she quickly managed to drive the long uncomfortable drive back to Amanaki village.

As they left the truck the girl eagerly ran to her parents. Atsuko, however, was not so eager, she was extremely nervous about facing the Rakyat girl after what happened, but her fear propelled her forward until she was stood on the threshold of her small shack where she seemed rooted to the spot, trembling ever so slightly from a combination of nerves and an overwhelming cold breeze that blew straight past her.

"Hello?" She was bought straight out of her thoughts by Rakyat girl, causing her to jump slightly back from shock. She was leaned against the door with her hands on her little brother's shoulders who was standing in front of her with a bemused, but otherwise uninterested look on his face.

"Can I come in for a bit?" Atsuko asked quietly.

"Sure, I'm Marama, and this is Maaka." She gestured to her little brother who briefly looked up at the hearing of his name, but quickly got bored and got back to messily eating an ice lolly. She moved aside to allow Atsuko to enter the house, and while she gave a brief explanation in Maori to her little brother, Atsuko took the opportunity to look around, it was a small, almost dilapidated house with several rooms coming of it, in the middle was an old tattered sofa with drawings on the floor.

She felt two hands on her shoulder and jumped slightly as she was bought out of her thoughts, prompting a small chuckle from Marama.

"Sit." She told her, gesturing to the sofa. "And tell me what's really going on." Her face darkened slightly as her tone turned firm and demanding, not by a huge amount, but enough to unsettle her.

She nervously picked off some imaginary fluff from her trousers.

"I made a huge mistake. I let my prejudice make me make some bad decisions... and I joined Vaas' pirates." Marama suddenly leapt from the sofa where she'd been sitting in anger

"Are you serious?"

"Only for a day, but I ran away after I caught Vaas assaulting a young girl. Now I have nowhere else to go." Atsuko stood up to face her and gently took her hands in an attempt to calm her down, staring into her eyes with genuine regret and remorse. It seemed to work as Marama visually calmed down.

"Did you kill anyone, while you were with them?" Marama murmured shakily, her voice barely audible, as if she was too scared to get an answer.

"No. And I'll admit, at the time I wanted to; revenge for my family. But now that I've seen the awful things they're capable of, and I've met you..." She trailed off, thinking "I don't want to be associated with anyone who would hurt you." Marama went speechless at Atsuko's honest confession. She sounded so earnest and sincere that it bought a subtle red tinge to her already dark skin.

"And there's one other thing: They might follow me here."

"Get out!" Marama yelled "What the hell do you think you're doing? Bringing those evil Kaikohuru here. Into our village, or into my home, when my little brother is here! I swear to god if Maako gets hurt because of you I will never forgive you."

"I'm sorry okay? I know I made some mistakes but this hasn't been easy for me, I was buried up to my neck in sand, if I hadn't asked to join them I would've been shot immediately! This place is so different to Japan, and I need help. I need your help. I don't know how to get myself out of this one." Tears rolled down Atsuko's face, saying it out loud made her realise how out of her depth she was.

"We need to get Maaka out of here, and warn Dennis there could be an impending attack any moment." Marama sighed, reluctantly reaching out a friendly hand to reassure Atsuko.


	5. Road trip

They urgently left the house, an irritated and curious Maaka reluctantly following.

"Kia ora, Kauri." Marama called to an unknown male, boredly sitting by a fire with a handgun resting in his lap,

"Who's the new girl?" He asked with a friendly grin.

"Really no time to explain just yet. Get as many fighters as you can armed and alert, and we need one person to take Maako to safety. I need to contact Dennis, where is he?"

Kauri stood up his grin quickly fading to a combination of worry and confusion as he called over a few more soldiers.

"He's over at Citra's" Kauri replied "I can try and get a message out to him."

Marama sighed aggravated

"It's going to take him ages to get all the way over here! We might not have that much time. I'll send a radio message." Marama sauntered off, a deep determination burning in her eyes. Atsuko saw a new side to Marama that she hadn't realised, someone brave and powerful who was capable of winning this war. She hadn't even realised until now that she also had Tatau brandishing her wrist.

Atsuko was bought out of her thoughts by a chuckling from beside her

"You're so much in awe of her. Like a kid who just met their hero." She wasn't even sure she could honestly deny it, instead she laughed back a little embarrassed, tucking her hair nervously behind her ear and waited for Marama to come back.

"Fancy a road trip?" She grinned as she sauntered back.

After some fairly severe whiplash and being forced to kill a cassowary that had taken a worrying interested in them, by shooting it with a handgun, Atsuko was beginning to regret agreeing to follow Marama, they ripped through the jungle in a rusty old scavenger car, Atsuko fearfully gripping the frame as they tore over hard rocky surfaces the merciless jolt that followed them punishing them the whole way.

"Marama you're crazy!" Atsuko laughed as the already beaten and battered truck sustained even further injuries. "How far have we got to go?"

"A long way, I couldn't reach Dennis, if there is going to be a fight going down, he's going to want to know about it at the very least, even if he can't fight himself." She explained "I hope we can all get back in time, then we can see where your loyalties really lie." Suddenly her voice darkened and Atsuko felt a small shiver go down her spine, apparently she wasn't to be trusted just yet.

"With you, I promise." Atsuko replied seriously. Hating that her betrayal couldn't just go away because she knew in her heart that she would never do it again, the hard part was proving it.

Although she can't distrust me that much if she gave me a handgun, Atsuko thought as she looked at the M1911 pistol sitting heavily in her lap. The first time she had ever even touched a gun was today, a present from Marama in case Atsuko wandered off and had to protect herself, and it didn't go well, everything had to be explained to her in a way you would expect a small child would need, and her accuracy was horrific, it made her realise that if she was going to survive any longer, she'd need to rely on more than clever lies to talk her way out of trouble, and the watchful eyes of her comrades, she'd need to be strong, she needed to become a warrior, like Marama, or even Vaas, he might be evil, but he's powerful and respected.

"Hey Atsuko! Concentrate." Marama drew her out her thoughts with a desperate whisper in her ear "You think you can just zone out whenever you feel like?" Another car was slowly coming into view across the horizon, a red truck similar to the one she had been in much earlier, red with a messy white skull painted on the bonnet. One of the pirates' trucks.

"Out the car." Marama demanded quietly but sternly, slipping into the jungle and just leaving the car parked on the road, they ran into the thick of the woods, out of sight, but still able to spy on the two pirates quickly getting ever closer to them.

"Oi there's someone here." One of the pirates said, a taller one with a dirty bandage wrapped around his wrist. Atsuko grimaced once again; did no one care about infections?

They got out of their truck to investigate, kicking the blue truck as they did.

"Marama they're going to see us, what do we do?" Atsuko muttered worriedly.

"There doesn't seem to be anymore coming." She whispered back, looking back at the road the pirates had come up. "And it's two versus two. I say we take them out." Marama suggested, Atsuko's heart sunk to her stomach, despite her previous eagerness to kill, things were different now she was actually facing the people who would soon lose their lives because of her, it was easy to think about killing a nameless faceless enemy, but the ones who stood in front of her, armed and dangerous, made it not so easy to consider. Moreover what would their family think if she did? Could her brother still love her knowing she had murdered someone? On the other hand would she ever be able to see him again if she didn't?

At this point the pirates were facing away from them, searching through the thicket boredly, all it would need was two well aimed shots to the back of the head, shame then that she didn't do 'well aimed.' She felt a hand on her arm, soft and light.

"Relax hoa, I will take the shots, I just need to know you won't freak out about it." Marama whispered soothingly as if she could read Atsuko's mind.

"Do it." Atsuko closed her eyes on instinct as a loud bang attacked her ears, followed by some desperate shouting, one more bang, and then silence; signalling it was all over. The Pirates were dead. Atsuko peered nervously over the thicket, the men were lying on the ground, one bullet hole in each of their heads. Blood flowed liberally from the open wounds and soaked into the dirt,

Marama climbed over the thicket and patted their clothes quickly, she picked out some notes and a pack of cigarettes, tattered and crumbled, but still she was grinning triumphantly, proud with her find.

A/N thanks for reading, I would appreciate any reviews just as a general indicator if people actually like this, or thing there's things it could improve on


	6. Big ass scary birds

"You smoke?" Marama asked offering a cigarette to Atsuko, she crinkled her nose disgusted and shook her head, she'd always hated smoking since being lectured endlessly of all the health issues at school. Marama grinned lighting the cigarette and inhaling deeply.

"You could maybe do with it, you look more stressed than anyone I've ever seen, and we've still got a long way to go."

"Better get started then." Atsuko muttered, getting back into the passenger seat of the car. There had been so much to take in over the last few days; back in Japan people had tried to warn her about what went on in Rook Islands, the slave and drugs trade which were rife throughout the whole islands, she even knew that Vaas was the head honcho of this island, and his boss was a man named Hoyt, not that she knew much about him. However nothing she had learnt could've prepared her for all the bloodshed and insanity that plagued the island.

"Maybe we should call Kauri?" Atsuko muttered thoughtfully, "See if there's been any sign of the pirates? Or at the very least see if Maaka got to safety."

"You do it." Marama replied deep in thought, casually throwing the phone to Atsuko from where on the path she still stood. "I'll get driving again."  
The number was easily found on Marama's phone, along with Vaas' to Atsuko's surprise. Why the hell would she have that, after the fierce hatred she had showed towards him? Atsuko quickly memorised it herself and hid her suspicions as she pressed on Kauri's name. After a few rings the phone clicked.

"Kia ora Marama." He greeted cheerfully

" 'Fraid not." Atsuko chirped back.

"Ahh new girl, how's it going?"

"Two people are dead as well as one big ass scary bird. How's things on your end?"

"A little less action unfortunately." He chuckled. "There have been no sign of any pirates anywhere near the perimeter, but we have some snipers on the roof just in case and everyone's on high alert, with anyone who can't fight safely locked indoors."

"And Maako?"

"He was driven to a nearby village, left with a friend, don't worry he'll be safe there. Now that we have a bit of time, can you tell me what's made you so sure that there will be an attack?"

Atsuko sighed internally, she had a feeling she would be repeating this story to many people, and would get a fairly angry reaction from everyone she told.

"Long story, but I made a deal with Vaas and now I've backed out and I feel like he's going to get revenge on both me and your people for it." Marama snorted in derision.

"That's what you call a 'deal'?" She commented

"Right so this is all your fault?" Kauri asked

"Yes."

"And so why are we not kicking you out on your ass and letting you survive by yourself, instead of risking our lives to save you?"

"I don't think it occurred to anyone."

"Ohh it definitely occurred to me." Marama muttered bitterly, giving Atsuko an annoyed side glance.

Eliciting another laugh from Kauri over the phone.

"I promise I will sort this, even if it means facing off against Vaas one-on-one." Atsuko promised seriously.

"That will come later. For now you have a mission to face. Get to Dennis." Kauri hung up the phone.

"You're a good person, despite all of this. I'm sure of it." Marama smiled as they drove along at the same dangerous speed they'd been hurtling along at before. Marama handling the thin trees that acted as tricky obstacles with ease. Until suddenly the car started whining and spluttering as it slowly grinded to a halt.

"Taukiri!" Marama yelled, slapping her hand hard against the wheel out of frustration.

"What's happened?"

"God knows! These cars are ridiculously unreliable." She growled angrily, storming out of the car "We're nowhere near, and we have no idea how much time we have."

"You hermanas need a lift?" They both whipped around at the same time to see Vaas leaning against the bonnet of a car. Atsuko glanced over at Marama, curious to see how her already angry demeanour would develop into pure hatred, but instead she was smiling warmly, as if she'd just met up with an old friend 'what the hell's going on?' Atsuko thought to herself, paranoia and worry swirling round in her mind like paint washing down a drain.

"Vaas, what are you doing here?" Atsuko asked bitterly, he started to saunter over towards them, chuckling smugly.

"Hermana, you thought it was that fucking easy? You thought you could just bail out whenever the fuck you wanted like a little bitch?! You told me you were going to be useful to me, and all you've done so far is piss me off." As he finished talking he was inches away from Atsuko; so close she could feel his breath against her face, it smelt like alcohol, and no matter how inappropriate the situation, that made her giggle.

He gripped her hard by the neck with one hand, her throat felt like it could be crushed by the force of his hand closing in tightly, her head filled with an overwhelming sense of dizziness as its oxygen flow was restricted. Atsuko raised her elbow high, planning to bring it down on his forearm in the hope it may dislodge it and release her from this tight grip.

"Get your hand off her or lose it!" She heard growled from beside her before she could try and stop him herself, Marama had a machete, glinting brightly in the sunlight, gripped tightly in her hands and pointed straight at Vaas' chest. He did as instructed and dropped Atsuko who desperately gasped for air, but still he wouldn't release her from his intense gaze, watching her entertained as she suffered because of him.

"Leave us Hermana, I want to talk to Atsuko alone." He instructed Marama, his eyes still boring deep into Atsuko's.

"Yeah right, like I'm going…."

"Do it, Marama. I'll be okay, remember what I told Kauri." Atsuko felt a friendly arm on her hand as she heard footsteps receding away from them.

"What do you hope to achieve, by keep following me like this, do you want to get revenge or to kidnap me back or what?"

"Ohh Hermana don't you think it'd be too easy if I told you now?" He uttered sinisterly, lightly placing his hand on her hair.

"Stop touching me. It's creepy." Atsuko whined quickly backing away defensively.

"Whatever Amiga, oh and by the way, you don't need to worry about finding Dennis, it's not Amanaki village I'm after, it's Maako." With that he walked away and back into the truck.


	7. Weakness and unexpected strength

Atsuko was too shocked to say anything as he drove off, and turned back to see Marama kicking up some dusy.

"Marama! We need to get back to Maako. I think he's in danger."

The look on Marama's face was left deeply ingrained in her mind and would be forever, she suspected, the hope and life visibily drained from her expression leaving a blank despairing shell.

"No. This can't be happening." She murmured faintly, clinging desperately to a tree to stand upright. "I can't do this." Atsuko could see that Marama was trembling weakly. "He's going to kill him."

"And that's why you don't have time to stand there freaking out." Atsuko interjected, she took her by the elbows, taking most of her weight, but she could tell she wasn't listening, she was just staring past her, it angered her to see someone so strong become this weak, this pathetic. Atsuko grabbed Marama by the chin with one hand, lifting her face up so it was level with hers.

"Listen to me! I can't rescue him without you. I don't know this island, or you know, guns."

"What about the truck? It's broken. How will we get back?"

"Can't we steal the pirate truck, I doubt they're going to care considering they're dead" Atsuko commented with a frustrated eye roll. She walked over to the truck in question and saw, to her relief, that the keys were still left in the ignition, Atsuko had only ever driven once in her life, and that was in an empty car park when she was 12, hardly the best experience for racing through the thick treacherous jungle that lay ahead of them, but still better than Marama while she was in a state of shock, Atsuko looked back at Marama and saw without her support she had curled in a ball on the ground.  
"Damn it!" Atsuko grumbled under her breath bitterly. "Hey! Snap out of it right now. We need to get going now if we have any chance of finding Maako in time… and what's that noise?" A fainting hissing slowly became audible from some unknown direction, Atsuko's heart started beating rapidly in her chest, thumping hard against her rib cage as the sinister hissing got louder. It was getting closer, whatever 'it' was.

"Marama! Get in the truck. Something's coming." Atsuko hissed quietly, still Marama didn't respond it was as if she'd become comatose. Atsuko crouched down low to the ground, slowly creeping towards Marama, beads of sweat forming on her forehead as the feeling of trepidation and horror built inside her, threatening to overwhelm her, along with the horrible dizzy feeling that made her feel as if she could faint any second.

 **A/N Sorry this one was so shorter than the others. Hope you guys are liking this so far.  
** **And thank you to my 2 followers :3**


	8. Marama's biggest fear

She grabbed Marama by the waist and steadied herself as she lifted her over her shoulder, Marama seeming to not even notice as she was lifted into the air and carried over towards the truck. With Marama out of the way she could see a giant scaled animal stretched out on the rocks, brown saggy skin hanging off it's long menacing body, a forked tongue snaking out from it's mouth as it hisses viciously at them, slowly dragging it's powerful legs forward to edge ever closer to them, Atsuko ran as fast as she could with a grown woman over her shoulder to the truck, quickly getting inside and gently placing her in the truck next to her, the truck had no doors, so she decided that it was time to leave. Fast. With her heart racing she turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared into life, the noise scared the Komodo dragon and caused it to strike; pouncing towards them,

Atsuko screamed as the engine started and they drove away manically, she drove with a heart full of panic and a cloud of uncertainty swirling around in her head, she was so immensely aware that Marama was still unconcious; she knew nothing about Komodo dragons, but the one thing she did know was that they had venom capable of killing a person easily. Could it be that she had been bitten without Atsuko knowing? By this point she was still completely lost, even more so than before. She tried her phone again, doubtful that it would have any signal deep in the impenetrable woods.

"Hello?" New girl?" The voice was quiet and static made it extremely hard to hear.

"Listen Kauri; I'm in a really bad situation, Marama is unconcious and I found her near a komodo dragon. I'm worried she may have been poisoned, how do I check? And what do I do?"  
"… Poison… ripped apart….bitemark… unlikely… doctor."

"Hello!?" The phone hung up as signal was lost, and Kauri's coded message had left her with very little information, she tried again and again, but the signal couldn't be recovered.

Atsuko swore aggresively under her breath, stuffing the phone in her pockets.

'Bitemark' If Marama's been poisoned she'll have a bitemark! Atsuko reasoned, grinning triumphantly at her revelation. She checked her back, anxiously biting her lip as she saw deep red blood soaked into her clothing, "Oh god please no." She murmured, close to tears, as she tentatively lifted the back of Marama's shirt with shaking hands, and to her surprise saw her dark skin was clear of bitemarks or any open wounds.

"Are you undressing me?"

Atsuko jumped in shock and relief at hearing her companion's voice once again, albeit a suspicious and mildly annoyed voice, and dropped the fabric of her top.

"No!" She shouted, blushing embarrassingly red. "I thought maybe you had been poisoned by a komodo dragon because you didn't wake up."

Marama simply laughed in response

"Aww you city girl!" She chuckled with a patronising smile "You'd know if I'd been bitten because I'd have been torn into several pieces, komodo dragons are vicious little shits." Honestly Atsuko had just been proud of herself for successfully recognising its species, but decided that might make her get patronised even more.

"What happened, why did you pass out like that?" Atsuko asked quietly, if she knew Marama at all; she knew she'd be ashamed of herself, but Atsuko had to know why, or she'd be wondering forever.

Marama sighed and brushed her hair from her face.

"I'll tell you while we drive home." They swapped places so Marama was once again in the driving seat; where she belonged.

 _Heavy rain drops splattered on Marama's face as she looked up at the sky, dark and filled with a deep and suffocating dust, that swirled around the sky, the dust clouds reminded her of vultures, circling in the sky; waiting for something to die. 'Don't worry vulture clouds, it won't be too long' she thought grimly. The rain had soaked through her clothes, freezing her to the point she was shivering violently, her teeth bared as she closed her eyes to avoid getting raindrops in them. "Tuahine?" A small voice murmered from beside her. She looked down and saw Maako, his long fringe plastered down his face with rain drops trickling down his dark face. They were sat close together in a useless attempt to try and retain some warmth. Marama couldn't respond, a gag stuffed in her mouth, they were both tied to the inside of a bamboo cage, their wrists burning with the pain of the rope gripping tightly into them. "Tuahine, someone's coming." Marama looked in the direction that Maako was looking, and saw two men walking towards them, one of which was holding some kind of assault rifle in his hands, the other had a massive scar across his face._

 _The one with the scar knelt down to their level. A massive grin on his face, Marama shuddered, not just from the cold, but from a deep sense of dread that this man gave her._

 _"_ _That vicious little bitch fucking bit me." The one with the gun complained, revealing a slight flesh wound on his wrist._

 _"_ _Hey you fuck! Be polite to our fucking guests. Afterall they're going to make us a lot of money." He commented flashing them a sinister grin. "Oi niño, what are your names?" He asked Maako, who just stared back with a vague sense of confusion; he had never bothered to learn English, despite his parent's best wishes, Marama however understood every word, but couldn't reply because of the damn gag. "Hm? You know I almost feel sorry for you kids; your parents don't love you enough to come for you. Nobody fucking wants you back, there's not even any point ransoming you, your piece of shit parents wouldn't respond. Your only hope at being wanted is from some sick scumbag."_

 _Marama yelled in response, the noice muffled by the gag. The man with the scar started laughing._

 _"_ _So you're miss Fiesty; the girl who did this?" he gestured to the other man's arm. Marama nodded confidently, determined not to be scared by him. He studied the the mark carefully. "Not bad, Hermano, take the boy and find a customer for him. It looks like we'll have to kill the bitch's spirit before she can be sold." With that both her and Maako were untied and taken to separate places. "Let Maako go." She growled at the man who had taken her, the one with the scar._

 _"_ _The boy?"_

 _"_ _Yes him. He's my brother. I won't let you sell him. It's my job to look after him."_

 _"_ _I'm afraid not hermana, from now on, your both ours."_

 _Marama elbowed the man in the stomach, which wasn't far below her head height, and ran towards her brother desperately, her heart pounding._

 _Bang. A shot rang loudly, hurting Marama's ears. It flew just above Maako's head._

 _"_ _Take another fucking step and I won't miss." Marama stopped dead in her tracks. She felt stupid for acting so rashly; her parents would've told her to bide her time. But she panicked…_

"Then what happened?" Atsuko asked, near speechless from Marama's tale.

"I don't want to get too deep into it; but I was hit around the head and passed out, when I woke up I must've been rescued, because I woke up in a bed in Amanaki village, with Maako by my side. He was so young at that time, we both were. And they wanted to sell us off." Her voice trailed off weakly as she was forced to remember it. "Ever since he's done anything to mess with me, just like he's doing to you now. But when I heard you say Maako was in danger, it was if I was right there in that moment. It was awful."

"He didn't kill Maako."  
"Hm?"

"Back then he didn't kill Maako, so why should he now?"

Marama didn't respond, neither of them talked after that point. They were both exhausted from the mental duress they had been put under.

As they drove back into Amanaki village they were greeted by an excitable and confused Kauri.

"Well I see Marama's still alive; so things can't have gone too badly." He commented, resting against the frame of the truck. "You caused quite the disturbance when you rode up in that thing." He gestured towards the red paintwork. "We're still waiting for that attack you promised." He grinned warmly.

"I'm afraid we still don't have time to explain. Now we need to know where Maako is being kept. I tried phoning again and again but the signal sucks." Atsuko explained as she clambered out the truck.  
"You need to rest; you've both been put under a lot of stress and look exhausted, I just talked to the people looking after Maaka and they said he's fine."  
"But Vaas told us he was after him." Atsuko protested

"You stay here, I'll send some people to pick him up and bring him back. They won't let Vaas get to him, I promise."

Atsuko looked at Marama questioningly, and she nodded in response, Kauri was right; Marama did look exhausted, her eyes tired and vacant.


	9. little brat

Marama and Atsuko made it back to her house, collapsing lazily in a pile on the sofa.

"I'm sorry." Marama muttered breaking the comfortable silence. "I shouldn't have passed out, I shouldn't have left you in charge of both of us." Atsuko chuckled slightly.

"Even you aren't perfect, it sounds like some post traumatic stress disorder in my untrained opinion."

"Oh hey, you know the phone you gave me, could I use it to call my family back home? Vaas stole my phone along with all my things I guess when he buried me." Atsuko asked as she fished the phone out of her pocket.

"Go ahead." Atsuko grinned as she typed her mum's number in, she felt so homesick; she'd never been alone this long, especially in such stressful circumstances. After a few rings the phone clicked.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Mum, it's me, Atsuko."  
"Honey I missed you so much! What happened to your phone? I've been trying to call you."

Her tone was kind but still had the same familiar nagging tone that she had when she was annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I had a problem and lost my things, but I made a friend and will be staying with her until I come back, I may be a while, some complicated things have come up." She realised it was a major understatement, but a full explanation would only worry her mum right now.

"Hang on a second Atsuko, Daisuke wants to talk to you."  
"Hey little bro." Atsuko grinned happily, out of everyone she missed her little brother the most, he was always so happy and cheerful, that he never failed to make her feel better, no matter what the situation.

"Sister!" He cooed excitedly. "I miss you sooo much. When are you coming back home?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I really don't know, I'll try and be back as soon as possible okay?"

As Daisuke continued to chatter excitedly about school, and his friends, Kauri came in the house, followed by a tired looking Maako.

"Maako!" Marama shouted relieved, running over and crouching down to envelop him in a deep hug.

"What was that?" Daisuke asked curiously.

"It was my friend, bro I have to go, I'll call you tomorrow okay?"  
"Bye sis!"

With that she hung up and left the phone next to her on the sofa. Smiling wistfully as she watched tears of happiness trickling down Marama's face, she was hugging him so tightly she was surprised he could still breathe. Kauri gestured over to Atsuko and lead her outside, Atsuko followed nervously, she guessed she was in for a lot of questions by this point. He sat down on hard ground with a deep sigh.

"You certainly have shaken things up a lot here, and Marama must like you a lot to keep putting up with you."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble.." Atsuko muttered apologetically, looking awkwardly down at the ground, she couldn't stand to look at him while she was being lectured, even though it was slightly reminiscent of being told off by a teacher at school.

"But while I am causing trouble, I might as well cause some more… right?"

Kauri started staring at her with a mix of disbelief, and horror, breaking into a hysteric laughter

"You're crazy you know that?"

"I aim to please." She grinned with a wry smile

"But there is reason behind the madness; I don't know how much you know about me."  
"Literally nothing. I keep asking and nobody will tell me anything. You guys suck." He interjected with mock bitterness.

With a deep sigh Atsuko decided it was time to come clean about everything; from her dangerous cat and mouse game that was rapidly developing between her and Vaas, and her real reason for coming to the island. It was the latter which she used to explain her sudden desire:

"I want to sneak back to Amanaki outpost."

"No." Kauri looked away annoyed, apparently as far as he was concerned that was end of discussion, 'how naïve he must be' Atsuko thought with a small smile.

"But as soon as I do, I can go back home, you'll never have to see me again." Atsuko pointed out

"Duh why do you think I said no chick?" He replied with a sarcastic grin. "But seriously now, you are never going back there, it's way too dangerous, for you, for me, for Marama and Maako, and everyone else who's been unlucky enough to run into you."  
"You don't have to come; I can do it myself, using stealth." He laughed again, harsh and cynical.

"Don't be ridiculous; You've had a lot of luck for not dying already, don't push it. Or people may get sick of saving your sorry ass."  
"Hey! I saved Marama too aswell remember?"

"From a problem you caused her!" He shouted back, standing up and agressively storming towards her, stopping a few inches away, It gave her flashbacks of her encouter with Vaas, although Kauri was probably less likely to strangle her. She hoped.

"Do you even know about all the shit she's had to go through? You've come and wreaked havoc to this village with no consideration for anyone else!" a fiery anger flashed through his eyes.

"If you have any sense, you'll get the next plane back to Japan and leave us alone." He turned round, storming off annoyed

"Not without my grandfather's gift." Atsuko clenched her fists annoyed, she flushed bright red with frustration. Who was he to tell her what to do?

"You need the damn outposts to retake control of the island, we both have something to gain from this! You're supposed to be warriors for god's sake" She walked up to him and tightly gripped his arm, pulling up his sleeve, revealing the tattoo adorning his arms "The heron, the spider, and the shark right?" She asked, squeezing his arm tightly

"I learnt some things, this tatau is important, it isn't given to just anyone, you have to be strong, powerful; you have to be a fighter. I may not be able to protect myself, but you can teach me, and you can take back this island for yourselves as the rightful owners."

She let go of his arm, gently pushing him away. She turned away from him and stormed off back towards Marama's house. She slammed the door behind her sulkily, to the surprise of Maako and Marama who were still sitting on the sofa.

"Had a nice talk then?" Marama joked as Atsuko joined them on the sofa.

"That man is scary as hell." She grinned back.  
"I'm going to get Maako to bed, look at him, and his little tired face." Marama chirped happily, squashing an irritable Maako's face up amused. He hit her off  
"Mutu!" He whined, Atsuko beamed happily and she felt a twang of loneliness deep within her heart. She bitterly missed her brother; she'd do anything to see his face once more."

Marama carried Maako into the next room. "You coming to sleep too?" Marama called through the door. Burying her melancholy under a veil of apathy, Atsuko reluctantly stood up and followed her, leaning against the door frame.  
"Sure, what are the sleeping arrangements?"  
"Well I'll be in the bed, you can share that with me or sleep on the sofa, depending on what you feel more comfortable with."

"I'll take the sofa." Atsuko muttered with a slight blush, she had no idea what made her feel so embarrassed; but after Marama's accusation, she was nervous about her getting the wrong idea.

She had a pair of pajamas thrusted into her arms.

"Change into these." She instructed. "Good night, you really saved me today, and I want you to know how grateful I am for that. You're a good friend." Marama smiled warmly, turning the pale red tint on Atsuko's cheek into a deep crimson. She shrugged in response.

"What else could I do?" She muttered, turning around to find the bathroom and get changed. It wasn't until she laid down on the lumpy hard sofa that she realised just how tired she was, every muscle ached painfully to the point she felt like she would never be able to move again. She quickly drifted off into a fitful restless sleep.


	10. Beginner's weaponary

"Eh what!?" Atsuko yelled as she woke up suddenly, a response to the thunderous banging from outside against the door, her heart beating fearfully against her chest. 'What if it's Vaas?" She thought anxiously, she laid still for a few minutes her eyes never leaving the door, anticipating any movement from outside, red marks appearing on her hands where she instictively dug her fingernails deep into, her knuckles whitening as her muscles clenched with terror. After enough round of banging she decided she couldn't wait any longer: clearly this person was not going to give in and go soon, and the longer they stood there making a racket, the more chance they'd wake Maako and Marama, who definitely needed the rest. With trepidation looming deep within her heart she stood up and tiptoed her way over to the doorway; she didn't want the mysterious visitor knowing she was there if she decided to back out at the last moment. Taking a deep breath she quickly whipped open the door on the count of three.

Outside, to Atsuko's surprise was Kauri. Leaning against the door frame, a deep aroma of alcohol hanging on him. "Kauri, what are you doing here?" Atsuko whispered confused.

His eyebrows were furrowed deeply and a frown deep on his face suggesting their little argument from earlier hadn't been forgotten; she suspected that was also the reason for the stench of alcohol.

Instead of replying he roughly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her outside the house. Atsuko's face contorted with confusion and worry, 'surely he can't be so angry he's kidnapping me… can he?' Atsuko wondered as she stumbled outside. She made sure to close the door before being pulled away by the angry Kauri, the cold bitter wind hit her hard as she travelled through the freezing cold in a pair of borrowed pyjamas, she was lead over to a make shift shooting range, with some corrugated metal sheets balanced precariously to make a shelter, and some targets stuck onto the end. He picked up some kind of weapon, if Atsuko had to guess she'd say an AK-47, but she couldn't be certain.

"… What's going on?" She murmured horrified, but instead of aiming the gun at her, he simply passed it over, her arms buckled slightly under the unexpected weight as she awkwardly held it, not entirely sure she knew what she was doing.

"I think your argument was pig-headed and arrogant, but I can't deny you have a point. If we're going to win this war we need to be more active and stop letting the pirates fuck with us. But that means you have to shut up and listen to me." Kauri growled annoyed. It was remarkable how quickly Kauri had turned from kind and friendly, to someone who seemed to hate her; could she really have done so much to justify his apparent animosity towards her?

"Thank you Kauri." She replied seriously, as he helped her hold the assault rifle in the correct way, he taught her how to use the sights, and change the magazine, and when she was ready, pulled the trigger, the bullet exploded from the barrel causing her to stumble backwards slightly from the shock of the recoil, making a mercifully quiet noise due to the suppressor which Kauri had attached, the first bullet flew straight through the side of the neck of the sketch of the man on the target.

She grinned triumphantly at Kauri who stared back harshly.

"I didn't bring you here to do one shot, if you want to get enough practise you can't afford to waste time on being smug."

The smile slowly fell from Atsuko's face as he berated her, she turned back to the target and kept shooting, as carefully but quickly as she could, successfully changing the magazine as she did, hours and hours passed, Atsuko repeating the process until the targets became so shot up they were unusable, then Kauri would switch them and watch her as she tried again. Until the sky changed from the impenetrable darkness of midnight, to the gorgeous fiery hues of pink and oranges spreading across the sky like an explosion.

"It's beautiful." Atsuko muttered in amazement as she stared up at the sky, staring at the sunrise poking its head up from the horizon. "I've never seen anything so beautiful." She grinned, wishing she hadn't had her camera stolen from her by the pirates so she could capture it forever.

She glanced over at Kauri and saw he had the same stubborn expression that seemed stuck on his face since she mentioned Amanaki outpost.

"You really hate me now don't you?" she murmured bitterly as she turned away and took aim at the target once more.

"What makes you say that?" He replied, his voice still not softening.

"You went from being one of the nicest people to someone who won't even smile near me."

He sighed deeply, dragging his fingers through his hair to move his fringe out his eyes. His face filling with conflict as he seemed uncertain how to reply.

"It's not because I hate you, it's because I can't predict you, I like you, and I like Marama and I don't want to see either of you get hurt." He muttered shyly, it suddenly made sense to Atsuko; he just wasn't someone who liked to show his insecurities, something she could easily understand. She placed the gun down on the ground and walked over to him, feeling a deep pang of affection and sympathy, placing a friendly hand on his shoulder and squeezing it gently.

"I should never have come here should I?" She looked down at the ground as emotions welled up inside her and she reached realisations; for her to guarantee Marama's safety would mean sacrificing herself, as long as tension between her and Vaas continued, she and Maako were still in danger.

"Do you think if I was to give myself up to Vaas he'd leave you all alone?"

His head quickly whipped up to stare at her seriously.

"I don't care, you're not doing that. Marama would kill me if she found out I let you do that, and you know, she's scary." Atsuko nodded in agreement; for a moment it had seemed as if even Vaas was scared of her during the altercation with him earlier.

"I feel like such an idiot." Atsuko admitted, her head bowed in shame.

"You are an idiot." He replied bluntly. "And you have no idea how much I wish I could just leave you for dead still, but… I guess we're friends now." With that he roughly grabbed Atsuko's shoulder; she could only assume that was supposed to be a sign of affection so she smiled in response.

"Atsuko!" A voice yelled from about 100 metres away.

"Over here." Atsuko yelled back, and quick footsteps approach noisily.

"Jesus Christ girl, you really had me worried when I woke up and you weren't there." Marama panted as she approached them. "What you doing with that?" She asked gesturing at the gun curiously.

"Kauri's going to teach me to fight, and then we're going to kill Vaas." Atsuko announced, clenching her fists and grinning determinedly. Marama chuckled in response.

"As cute as that is, you're never going to get to him." She mocked, wrapping her arm around Atsuko's neck in a friendly embrace.

"And if we do, he's mine; I've had the most history with him."

"Well you've had a lot of practise with stationary targets; how do you fancy going for something a little more exciting?"


End file.
